this is how I spend summer weekends

I'm slightly sunburned and have sore feet.  I'm feeling wiped out and satisfied even if no cleaning was accomplished and my apartment is not currently fit for human habitation.

Started Saturday with a trip to Mill City Farmer's Market and saw the demo by Chef Joe Hatch Surisook.  He made an awesome marinated and grilled rib-eye/cilantro/mint/onion/lime/fish sauce/roasted rice powder/+/sticky rice salad.  I'm planning a visit to Sen Yai Sen Lek soon.  And probably another after that.  My step-mom and I both bought cheese--goat, sheep, and one of the fish-bait variety.  Mo left town for a bit today so I have them all to myself.  Sorry kiddo.

Around 1pm, attended a lovely garden party/joint birthday celebration for a couple of friends (who are a couple.)  Champagne and cakes (Wuollet's and Muddy Paws) were enjoyed by all.  Seriously pleasant way to spend an afternoon. 

 While the rest of the group traipsed off to Rock the Garden, I forewent in favor of a long nap.  (Okay, so I didn't have a ticket.)  (Okay, so I didn't really want a ticket.)

The evening was passed in the company of my daughter.  Did a little shopping at Target.  A little dinner at the Lyndale Tap House.  Most places in the immediate vicinity were deserted, likely due to the fact that most of the regular crowd from the Uptown area were at the Walker trying to rock out with MGMT.  (Oooo, was that snide?)  I'm sure things picked up later in the evening in Lyn/Lake.

Sunday morning saw us as early as possible at Kingfield Market with the ultimate goal being the purchase of Indian Spiced Mini Donuts from the Chef Shack.  We left with four bags full to share at the Father's Day celebration at my brother's place.  So loved.  The donuts and the Shack.  The Shack totally made Mo's day.  They now have the title of best salted burnt caramel ice cream in the cities.

After the fete for father, I met yesterday's birthday girl at my place and we trekked (by trekked, I mean walked what was to me a really long way) to the opening day of the Uptown Farmer's Market (and walked more) to French Meadow Bakery.  Had a very nice omelet.  Trekked (the really long way) home.

Was going to take another nap or pickle some radishes (which I totally intend to do soon) but am reading The Namesake again and got caught up in that.

Later in the afternoon, Dad picked me up and we (with step-mom) checked out the Uptown Cafeteria and Support Group for drinks and a snack. (Double Parasole points and all day happy hour.) So they just opened.  And it kinda shows.  Totally relaxed atmosphere although I can't imagine how loud it will be in there when they have to shut the street-side "garage doors." (Is there a special name for these?  It's odd to call them that.)  Issues were they were out of oranges (for a drink we tried to order), bloody mary mix (who cares that it was the afternoon), and the Kansas City Bao Buns.  Tried a couple of other appetizers.  At this point, the ahi tuna and the crab rangoon (both recommended by the server) will not keep me coming back for more.  They were fine, but nothing new in the taste profile.  (One note: the little cucumber/radish salad served with the tuna, while attractive, was a watery, tasteless little disappointment.  No brightness, just bitter.)  Drinks (and presentation) focused on the pretty.  So many flowers sacrificed.  Had the F-Bomb "martini" and the Tijuana Mistress.  Light on the alcohol, strong on the sweet, but I may order the Mistress again when I do go back for a second try.  I'd like to see the Sky Bar sometime.  A little too packed to make it up there today.  Dad loved the people watching, and note to the server, he was really kidding with 97% of the crap he gave you.  At least he usually tips pretty well.

Came home, vegged in front of the tv for awhile, been mucking around on the computer.  New name is inspired by a t-shirt I just bought.  

That's it.  More plans made already for next weekend's trekking.

Foods That Scare Me (a little)

My daughter is making sucking noises.  She's eating edamame stir fried with soy sauce, honey, and chili garlic sauce.  It's delicious, but it's turning my stomach a little right now.  I am planning on a different snack this evening:

 

I have a list of things that I think I want to try.  I'm supposed to be an adventurous eater.  Adventurous, perhaps, for being (mostly) raised in Iowa and coming from a (mainly) Swedish background (where Lutefisk was only served to my uncle, once a year.) 

I want to prove my worthiness.  I want to survive the food gauntlet.  (I'm kidding.)

My list of intimidating foods is (partially) as follows:

snails

sweetbreads

Lutefisk (I think I am finally ready for one of those church suppers)

durian

natto

rabbit

pickled watermelon rind

tripe (I've had this, but I don't think I've had it prepared correctly.  So many people like it and I feel like I am missing something.)

congee

black pudding (will probably have this soon at Anchor Fish and Chips)

various pig parts

chicken feet

soft shell crabs

I also want to like my intimidating foods.  Which brings me to the source of my guilt.

Last weekend I tried the soft shell crab.  

I love the place I bought the sandwich.  I wouldn't say a bad thing about the business, ever, ever.  It's me, it's my failing.  No Sam, I did not like the soft shell crab sandwich even if it has delicious pickled ramp tartar.  See?  It's beautiful:

I tried, I really tried.  There is something about the chewy and the thought of shell.  Then I got about half-way through it and I looked and I saw it's hepatopancreas and I gagged a little.  It's totally my fault, my weakness.  It's a texture and thought thing totally which doesn't bode well for a lot of the items on my list.  I know other people love them and thank god for those people.  Please try them, you might like them.  Don't let my failing be your guide.

This weekend my order will be the pulled pork nachos.  Kingfield Farmer's Market is opening this weekend!

Ugh.  Now she's slurping on a Sugar Daddy.  

"What, you don't like rice?" or Leftovers

My mom was a scientist in the kitchen.  She had a degree in home economics from the University of Minnesota.  Recipes were followed with precision.  It irritated her when measuring spoons were dispensed with and approximations were made.  To my taste, my mother's cooking was very successful.  But again, to my taste, there were a few notable exceptions.

One such dish was Tuna Rice Patties (click and cook at your own peril.)  Something about the tinny, canned tuna combined with rice and egg that made me gag.  It's a recipe that is made for leftover rice, but I am pretty sure my mom made rice just to make the patties.    One night, when I was around the age of 12, I refused a dinner of the tasty treat.  Nothing else was available to me and I knew it.  It was house policy to eat what was put in front of you.  I had great pleasure telling my grandmother the next day that they didn't give me anything to eat.  She didn't fall for it.

One of my sisters loves tuna rice patties to this day.  The other sister won't touch any rice based on The Lost Boys.  This is a scar she has carried with her since she was a child and a quick Google search reveals she isn't the only one who walked away from that movie feeling less inclined towards the white, fluffy staple.  I'm not sure why most people, including her, don't have the same feelings about noodles.  (Awesome, do click this link.)

Other dishes my mom made that I could not stand at the time include egg foo young (seriously, what is that slimy crap that is served with those?) and chow mein (gag, again--cooked celery.)  After I came back from college I actually requested the chow mein and pushed aside the celery and asked for more crispy noodles to have with the ground pork, water chestnuts, and sprouts and more rice.  Still cannot stomach any egg foo young.

Something else that I was always pretty suspicious of was fried rice.  Mom made it on occasion.  Rice and soy sauce and ham and egg?  Leftover vegetables?  Ugh.  Salty and otherwise tasteless and what I still see as a coward's way out of a Chinese restaurant. 

Which finally brings me to my point.  I made this for dinner:

It's kim chee fried rice!  It was so good.  I checked out a few recipes, but basically it is meat of your choice or no meat at all (I used my lo bulgogi), kim chee, whatever veg you may have around, a little soy sauce, and LEFTOVER rice.  Dice up the meat ( I saw lots of recommendations for Spam), dice up the kim chee, throw in the extras (I had diced green onions in the fridge), and then stir-fry it up in a little butter.  (I blinked when I saw butter since I am so used to using olive oil for everything, but I could taste the difference.)  When it's good and hot, throw in the rice and the soy sauce (other recipes also used a red pepper paste--had to Google that and will be putting it on a future shopping list.)  Crisp up the rice to taste, making sure everything gets incorporated with everthing else and the whole thing turns lovely colors.  Finished with a little toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds.  I added some chopped garlic chives too.  Tasty.  Some of the recipes called for a fried egg to be served on top, but I was in a sentimental mood and went with the scrambled-egg-in-fried-rice method.  I like my own cooking.  Morgan wasn't home.

I'm a little concerned I am going to be up all night.  I didn't sleep last night and today I did the fall-asleep-on-the-couch-for-20-minutes-after-work thing and have been wide awake since.  I'm making a vegetable stock (for the first time) for a vegetable soup that I am making tomorrow for a vegetarian friend.  It's still got awhile to reduce, then strain, then find a place in the fridge for it.

Bulgogi on a Sunday Night

It's been awhile.  I am back with bulgogi.  It's the first time I've made it and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It looked a little more saucy and was a little more sticky than what I've had in the past.  In fact, it really does look more like a teriyaki. I think I let it marinate too long, but even Morgan said she would eat it again.  I used a recipe from Chow, but I will probably continue to search until I find something more "authentic." The kim chee (which I've been craving and was the whole reason I made this) came from Don Yang Oriental Foods in Columbia Heights.  

Mill City Farmer's Market opened up again this weekend!  It meant Indian Spice Mini Donuts from the Chef Shack and Harukei turnips and goat cheese.  The weather was chilly, but it was worth it.

We bought greenhouse-grown brandywine and a purple/black tomato.  They weren't as tasty as the in-season tomatoes will be, but they were certainly better than anything that can be found in grocery stores right now.  Dinner was bacon, lettuce kale, and tomato sandwiches, with a turnip and greens saute on the side.  I used uncured bacon from Whole Foods which I will never use again because it was paper thin and just not bacon-y enough.  I thought I was incredibly clever to use braised kale instead of lettuce (I'm becoming of the opinion that lettuce on a sandwich/burger/whatever--anything but a salad--is superfluous.)  I added dried Thai chili to give it a little kick.  I made my own mayo (used very sparingly) and the bread--sourdough (really?) and garlic--came from the market too.  A meal heavy on the greenery, but that made up for the "bacon."

So lots has been happening--a few shows,  awesome book "discoveries," dinners out and dinners at home, company, surgery, healing--the norms.  If I can manage to get back into this, I plan to share.

Hot Wax

Morgan and I spent an evening at the Aveda Institute (having taken advantage of a recent Groupon) where we both got very awesome haircuts.  (If you see me at work tomorrow and think otherwise, please don't tell me.)  I did, however, spend part of the evening looking like an angry clown because of an eyebrow wax.  After dumping about a half a vial of oil on the viciously painful, seared skin above my eyes, it finally calmed down and I am back to looking normal.  (If you see me at work tomorrow and you think otherwise, again, mum's the word.)

I tend to make bad food decisions when I am as hungry and as tired as I was when I we left Aveda tonight.  Mo wanted burgers so we stopped at a place which I am not going to name.  Had an incredibly irritating experience.  Two tables had food almost instantly after ordering and we still had to wait another 20 minutes for our food.  We were literally about two minutes away from walking out when the manager (evidently) brought us our food.  I asked him what was up and he had to go back to the kitchen to find out.  Apparently the kitchen ran out of burgers (?) and no one came to tell us it was going to be a few.  Now Morgan said I can be a bit bitchy when I give restaurants "feedback."   I honestly, honestly wasn't angling for this, but we ended up being comp'd the entire meal.  I don't think that there is anything wrong about letting establishments know about what happens.  Its definitly more truthful and straightforward than coming home and mouthing off at how bad it was on my blog while sending out there a searchable name that could potentially affect someone's business (not that I think I am that important in my little corner of the world, but I don't want to do anyone any harm and I hear it happens.)  (Okay, maybe I named names a couple of times, but I try to make it clear that it is more my preferences that are interferring with the enjoyment of the particular place I've chosen-or was dragged to.)  I don't do this all of the time and I do let servers know when I do have a really great time (which is more often than not.) 

So, as one should in situations such as these I left a very decent tip for the waitress.  Though perhaps she should have told us we would be waiting.  The burgers were hot and shaped...funny.  Mine appeared to have appendages.  That's about all I can say.  They aren't worth going back for, especially in risking a repeat of the evening.  But I am still not telling you where it was.

Burgers always sit in my stomach like a rock.  I don't know why I order them.

3.14

Someone dropped the pi.

It wasn't me!  That's all I'm saying.

Chicken Teriyaki with Spinach

I have been so sick.  Really, I've been sick on and off since my birthday.  Killer cold, pink eye, and most recently, a really disgusting virus.

I was convinced I would never eat again.

Thankfully I'm back to eating and finally feeling like myself.

What was for dinner tonight?

I triple washed the spinach myself!  It actually had organic dirt on it.  I'm really sick of baby spinach and the furry mouth feel I get from the uniformly shaped leaves.  They stick in the roof of my mouth too.

Awesome chicken, not from water-plumped, frozen bricks.  Had to be stir-fried.  I wish I still had a cast iron grill pan, but that went in the great kitchen purge of '08 along with my electric skillet.  I don't miss that nearly as much.

I made the teriyaki sauce myself.  Morgan thought this was the best part of the meal.

With sushi rice and green onion.  And toasted sesame oil on the spinach.

More to come.  Not more on this dinner, but on other dinners and some excellent happenings and deep thoughts.

Squirrel Action in Loring Park